World number one Judd Trump defeated Stephen Maguire for a hard fought first-round win on the first day of the UK Championship at York Barbican.
Trump won this event in 2024 and 2011 and made a solid start this time round by winning a watchable encounter 6-4 to progress to play China's Si Jiahui in the last 16.
Maguire made breaks of 86, 111, 82 and 86, but Trump was able to take recover from trailing 61-26 to take the eighth frame on a re-spotted black for a 5-3 lead.
"It has been a decent year, a solid six or seven out of 10 with a lot of positives," said Trump. "I reached the semi-finals of the Masters, the semi-finals of the Worlds, reached four finals.
"On that basis you could say I’m one of the in-form players of the year.
"Even if I won here, it would not be a good year compared to other seasons, unless I win seven events in a season then it won’t do anything for me.
"So much is expected of me, if I don’t win straight away there’s more pressure and you don’t have that time when you’re at the top."
Si defeated Ryan Day 6-0 to race through to the next round.
In the evening session, John Higgins beat Ben Woollaston 6-2, despite enduring a nervous finish.
Higgins led 5-0 and was 58-0 up in frame six but missed a red to give Woollaston a lifeline, which he clung to take the game to another three frames.
Higgins will face Shaun Murphy next after his 6-2 win over Lyu Haotian.
"Ben will be kicking himself," he said. "He should have won frames two and three, I made some good clearances.
"I played Shaun in China and I managed to win, but he beat me the last couple of times before that. He hits the ball like an absolute dream so I hope it’s a good game.
"Winning the Masters (in January) has given him extra confidence and he is so dangerous when he is playing well. It’s Scotland against England."
Murphy trailed early to Lyu before winning three frames on the bounce to move into a 4-2 lead, from where he never looked back.
"Winning is all that matters," he said. "I played nicely in parts, a few mistakes, but delighted to get through and the small matter of John Higgins next."
